In telecommunications networks such as the Internet, data between two devices of the network are transmitted in the form of messages divided into separately transmitted packets. Each packet includes a header, comprising useful information for forwarding it and reconstituting the message, and encapsulates part of the data.
A router is an element of the network ensuring the routing of the packets. Generally, these devices keep a table, called routing table, in which the best routes to the various nodes of the network are memorized, via metrics associated with these routes.
Routing is the method making it possible to select paths in the network for forwarding packets from a sender to one or more destinations.
One way of limiting energy losses in these networks is to switch off the devices that are of little or no use to the operation of the network.
Algorithms making it possible to switch off network devices are already known. However, these algorithms are based on the election of a super node (also called master) which orders a synchronization and sends orders to the neighboring devices. These algorithms therefore exhibit the drawback of only operating in a synchronized manner and require that the devices have a direct physical link with the master. Moreover, they can only operate with a limited number of devices and are not adapted to an increase in the number of devices in the network. One example is the patent application US20080307075 disclosing a method for deactivating nodes of a network and requiring synchronization between these nodes.